AC Milan advances to Europa League round of 16 with a 5‑3 aggregate win over Rennes
AC Milan advanced to the round of 16 in the Europa League de‐ spite a 3‐2 loss at Rennes in the second leg of their playoff on Thursday.
Milan, which won 3‐0 at the San Siro last week, eliminated its French opponent on a 5‐3 aggre‐ gate score.
The Italian powerhouse, a seven‐time European champion, has never won the second‐tier Europa League or its predeces‐ sor, the UEFA Cup.
Midfielder Benjamin Bourigeaud's hat trick put the hosts up three times with Milan quickly answering twice.
Bourigeaud netted the opener in the 11th minute with a fierce right‐footed shot from over 20 meters to beat goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
Forward Luka Jović canceled it out 10 minutes later with a header off a cross by captain Theo Hernández.
Bourigeaud made it 2‐1 early in the second from the penalty spot but Rafael Leão equalized after four minutes on a fine solo effort.
Bourigeaud sent Maignan the wrong way with another spot kick to make it 3‐2.
The eight runners‐up in the Eu‐ ropa League group stage played the eight third‐place teams from the Champions League group stage in the playoffs.
The eight winners will take on the Europa League's group win‐ ners, who qualified directly for the round of 16. They are Liver‐ pool, West Ham and Brighton from the Premier League, as well Leverkusen, Atalanta, Villarreal, Rangers and Slavia Prague.
The draw is scheduled today. for
In the third‐tier competition, Takuro Kaneko's second‐half equalizer salvaged a 1‐1 draw for Dinamo Zagreb and secured a spot in the next round at the expense of Real Betis after the Croatian team upset the Spanish favorite 1‐0 in the opening leg in Sevilla.
Servette's lone goal at Ludo‐ gorets was enough to advance after a 0‐0 draw in the first leg.
Eintrach Frankfurt lost 2‐1 at home against Royale Union SG, and are out of the competition.
Hungarian side Ferencvaros are also out of the competition after losing 1‐0 at home against the Greek side Olympiacos Pi‐ raeus.
In Wednesday's game, Maccabi Haifa drew 1‐1 at Gent to ad‐ vance.
The competition's playoffs fea‐ tures the runner‐up teams from the group stage facing the third‐ place finishers in the Europa League group stage.
The eight group winners, in‐ cluding Aston Villa and last year's runner‐up Fiorentina, have advanced to the last 16.
Feyenoord‐AS Roma . . . . . . .1‐1 Galatasaray‐Sparta Prague .3‐2 Shakhtar‐Marseille . . . . . . . .2‐2 Young Boys‐Sporting CP . . .1‐3 AC Milan‐Rennes . . . . . . . . . .3‐0 Benfica‐Toulouse . . . . . . . . . .2‐1 Braga‐Qarabag . . . . . . . . . . . .2‐4 Lens‐Freiburg . . . . . . . . . . . . .0‐0
Freiburg‐Lens . . . . . . . . .3‐2 AET Qarabag‐Braga . . . . . . . .2‐3 AET Rennes‐AC Milan . . . . . . . . . .3‐2 Toulouse‐Benfica . . . . . . . . . .0‐0 AS Roma‐Feyenoord . . . . . . .late Marseille‐Shakhtar . . . . . . . .3‐1 Sp. Prague‐Galatasaray . . . .4‐1 Sporting CP‐Young Boys . . .1‐1